The Three-Step Body Routine (And Why You Probably Only Need Two)

Most body-care advice is about adding. Another step, another product, another thing to remember at ten at night when you are already tired.

I want to give you the opposite. Here is the entire structure of a body routine. There are three steps. Most people only need two.

One. Clean without stripping.

This is the step people overthink. A bar of soap cleans your skin. That is the job.

What matters is how your skin feels afterward. If it feels tight, squeaky, or like it needs lotion urgently, the cleanser is doing too much.

If your skin is reactive right now, start with the Goat's Milk bar — it has no essential oils in it at all, which is exactly why I point people there when everything else is bothering them. If you want a little texture, the Exfoliating bar comes in three levels, and most people want Gentle, not Deep. Deep is for heels and elbows, not for your whole body, and not every day.

Two. Put moisture back while your skin is still damp.

If you take one thing from this post, take this: apply your moisturizer within a few minutes of getting out of the shower, onto skin that is still slightly damp. Not dripping. Damp.

Dry skin applied to dry skin is a much harder job. You will use less product and get more out of it if you stop toweling all the way off.

Butter or lotion? This is the question I get most, and the answer is less exciting than people expect.

The Pure Body Butter is richer and comes in a smaller jar. It is built for hands, feet, elbows, knees, and the patches that stay dry no matter what. In deep winter, some people use it everywhere.

The Sensitive Daily Lotion is lighter and comes in a bigger bottle. It is built for everyday, all-over use, and it is fragrance-free.

Most people do best with a lotion for daily use and a butter for the rough spots. That is two products, not five.

Three. Seal — and this is the one you can skip.

Oil goes last, over your moisturizer, never instead of it. Oil does not add water to your skin; it slows down the water leaving.

Here is the honest part: most people do not need this step. If your lotion is still holding at the end of the day, you are done. Buying a body oil will not improve that.

Add it if your legs feel tight again by evening, if you live somewhere very dry, or if it is January and the heating has been running for a month. That is when Pure Body Oil earns its place. The rest of the year it may just sit on your shelf.

Why I am telling you to buy less

Because the alternative does not work.

If you buy four things at once, you will not know which one helped, and if your skin reacts you will not know which one to blame. You will also probably not finish any of them.

I would rather you buy one bar and one lotion, use them for a month, and actually learn something about your skin. That is a better outcome for you, and honestly it is a better outcome for me, people who know why something works come back for it.

Where to start

If you want the short version: a soap bar and the Sensitive Daily Lotion. That is a complete routine. Add the butter when you find the spot that needs more.

If you would rather not guess, the free skin consultation is a short form that I read myself, and I will tell you what I would actually start you on; including if the answer is one product instead of three.

— Kathy